Osborne says wants to boost London markets' integrity

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne delivers a speech at the ConservativeHome spring conference in central London May 24, 2014.

Reuters/Neil Hall

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will seek to boost the integrity of London's financial markets in response to a scandal in foreign exchange markets, Chancellor George Osborne said on Wednesday.

Osborne told an audience of bankers that Britain responded properly to a previous scandal in interbank interest rates and would do so again over suspected collusion among foreign exchange traders being investigated by London regulators.

"What I have got to make sure is that whatever happens as a result of those investigations, we are ... bolstering the integrity of the London markets," Osborne said at a conference organised by the Institute of International Finance in London.

Osborne's finance ministry is expected to announce measures soon in response to the foreign exchange case.

Osborne and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney are due to deliver speeches on June 12. Both have stated their desire to clean up Britain's banking industry.

The Financial Stability Board, a global body chaired by Carney, is expected to report soon on how to improve currency fixings such as the ones being investigated.